Hearing aids are prone to acoustic feedback problems since any time a microphone can receive output from a sound emitter, such as a receiver (also known as a speaker), the system can resonate at a feedback frequency. Workers in the hearing assistance area have worked on this problem for years with varying degrees of success.
One problem associated with hearing aids is that the cancellation algorithms used are frequently very system-dependent and are typically calibrated infrequently to minimize setup problems. Such devices may not adapt to changes in the use of the device, such as a user placing a telephone to his ear or a change in position of the hearing aid.
What is needed in the art is an acoustic feedback cancellation system which provides ongoing cancellation with a minimal loss of signal quality for the user. The system should be adaptable to a number of time varying acoustic feedback conditions.